Empowering the Differently-abled as Successful Print Entrepreneurs

Abstract

With the increasing initiatives taken globally towardsmaking the differently-abled persons employable, several sectors are redefining certain job positions to accommodate them. Taking this further, government organisations and NGOs train them to become entrepreneurs. Several disabled entrepreneurs have made a global mark. Steve Hawkins who uis almost disabled owning to a Motor Neuron disease is a scientist. Visually impaired JimStovall ofUK, an author cum entrepreneur makes movies and TV shows.Kevin Dasilva is a deaf entrepreneur in the marketing business. Entrepreneurial excellence award winners include Mark, an orthopedic, and Rob Smith, a wheelchair user. The Print Industry being a conglomerate requires different skill sets ranging from designing process involving aesthetic skills but sedentary; to binding and packaging which are monotonous but requires mobility. This plethora of skills can match different categories of persons with disabilities. The American Publishing House in the United States, which is more than a century old, is being operated by disabled entrepreneurs. In India, not much emphasis has been given to promote disabled persons as entrepreneurs in the Print sector though the industry is a promising avenue for them. This paper focuses on how printing technology forms a promising sector for the disabled individuals who aspire to become entrepreneurs. The authors map the characteristics of specific classes of disability to specific skills required for the jobs in the Print industry.With this mapping a multi-level, hierarchical business model to empower the disabled persons, specifically women, to become an entrepreneur in specific domains in the Print Industry, is proposed.